


Connected

by akirakurusuimagines (fleeting_fantasy), fleeting_fantasy



Series: P5 AU Week 2020 [4]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Gen, M/M, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:53:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23797987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleeting_fantasy/pseuds/akirakurusuimagines, https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleeting_fantasy/pseuds/fleeting_fantasy
Summary: P5 AU Week: Day 5 - Soulmate AUA sudden, foreign voice made its way inside your head. He was rather mysterious, yet still saved you when you needed him most.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Reader, Joker/Reader, Kurusu Akira/Reader
Series: P5 AU Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710292
Comments: 4
Kudos: 116





	Connected

You clicked your pen listlessly, your focus miles from the classroom and your professor’s dull lecture, completely and utterly absorbed in your grumpy mental chant to leave, _leave_ , _**leave**_. Today was just an irritating day, only a couple weeks into the semester and you were already completely over it. You regret not taking full advantage of your spring vacation, especially now where you were stuck now, with Ms. Chouno’s latest tangent. You just wanted to go home, cuddle up in your blankets, and take a nice, long nap. 

_I get it, so can you be quiet now, please? You’re not the only one who wants to leave._

You froze at the sudden voice, head whipping every which way inside the classroom, looking for any potential people who spoke to you, anyone who met your eyes with a glare, anything. Thinking for a moment, you realized you didn’t recognize that voice, despite being vaguely familiar with most students in your class. If it didn’t come from inside the classroom, then did it come from inside your head? No, that couldn’t be it. Right? That’s just preposterous! Maybe it was just your imagination, you were bored to the point of insanity. 

_Yeah, I’m just going crazy. That’s it, you convinced yourself, considering the lingering silence in your head. No wonder, she’s dragging on and on and—_

_Seriously, look, I don’t know what’s going on either, but can you please keep your thoughts to yourself for five minutes?_ The voice inside your head returned. It was rather light and gentle, but the snark in his voice was inevitable. Whoever managed to sneak inside your head didn’t seem like a fan of whatever was going on, either. 

_Absolutely not!_ you retorted, eyebrows pinching together as you had to make sure to speak inside your head to this stranger. _Get out of my head!_

_I could say the same to you._

_But you were the one who got in my head in the first place!_

_No, I think it’s the opposite._

“Whatever!” You hadn’t meant to say it out loud, unintentionally drawing attention to you from the other students in the form of giggling and snickering. Your cheeks reddened with shame as Ms. Chouno’s glare pierced right through your soul, though she continued the lesson without a word, likely choosing to confront you after class for your outburst. 

Regardless, the noise in your head died down and you were left to your own devices. Yet you still couldn’t bring yourself to try to contact the mysterious man again, half in fear that you were actually going crazy and it was a figment of your imagination, and half in fear that you weren’t and that he was going to be a permanent resident inside your head. 

That was the first day you heard his voice. 

Since then, his voice would only creep up upon you and scare the living shit out of you at the most inconvenient times, really. Once, he had blurted out the answer to the question you were pondering on an exam which caused you screamed in surprise. Luckily, the professor believed you when you nervously explained that you saw a bug and it shocked you and let you off with a warning.

Conversations between the two of you would only last for a few minutes at a time, and usually left you exhausted afterwards, though whether it was the bickering you two often found yourself engaging in or whether it was the energy needed to talk to someone telepathically, you weren’t sure. 

Neither one of you were comfortable enough with the other to use your real names or give any other kind of information, and you were perfectly fine with that, but you still laughed at him for a few minutes when he told you to call him Joker. What kind of a nickname was that? With the way he snorted when you announced yours, he didn’t think it was much better. 

There were a few times when you could’ve sworn you heard him say something rather odd— yet anytime you asked him about it, he’d pull out one of the rules that you two set up with each other to have some form of privacy when you were at school, since it seemed like the only time that strange connection ever happens and you’d respectfully back off, but it didn’t make you any less suspicious of him.

It was strange, but you got used to hearing Joker’s voice in your head, and admittedly began to look forward to it. It was a nice distraction from the strange life you had at Shujin, and you wondered if he felt the same way about talking to you. The way he seemed to lighten up and become more and more friendly with you seemed to indicate that, especially considering you two were listening in on the depths of each other’s psyche. 

A couple months of your interactions with him passed by, and you noticed that most of your conversations with him were short and blunt compared to the light banter you two normally had. You couldn’t blame him; the situation involving the mafia’s more aggressive movements in Shibuya recently was nothing to scoff at. Perhaps he was worried about it? He never answered you when you asked, yet you still worried for him. He seemed like the type to get himself caught up in trouble. 

Trusting your gut, you set off to stake out Shibuya, settling yourself comfortably within Big Bang Burger and hoping to connect with him while you were there. He was worrying you. You weren’t exactly ready to give up that strange bond you had with Joker for him to up and die from messing with the mafia.

So you waited.

And you waited. 

And waited some more. 

You were beginning to think this wasn’t your best idea. Hours passed and no sign of life inside your head other than yours, which you had to admit, was a lot lonelier than you would’ve first imagined. Sighing aloud, you packed up your things, at least grateful for the opportunity to finish your homework, as difficult as it was. The kind woman working the register bid a farewell as you exited, wincing slightly at the change of lighting. It was time you started heading home, your parents were sure to wonder where you’d been the entire time, considering how dusk was nearing already. 

Yet your legs refused to move towards the subway, that small glimmer of hope in your chest of at least getting to properly talk with Joker winning over your rationality. You wandered around the streets of Shibuya for a little longer, making as much racket in your head to try and see if Joker would respond. Then again, he might not even be here and all you’re doing is wasting your time. 

It really was a mistake on your part to let yourself get so distracted with improbable ideas. You could tell rather quickly which people felt shady as hell, and despite your attempts to steer away from them, they seemed to be attracted to you like moths to a flame. They badgered you with easy money, simple jobs, promises of wealth, anything they think would be attractive to a high schooler like you. Everytime you dismissed them, they came back, more eager to get you to agree than before. 

You should’ve made a run for it, towards the subway station, and just hop on the first train and go, but you were too late. At your continuous refusal, one of the shady men who hounded you grew absurdly irked, perhaps because he was falling behind on his quota, and snatched your wrist, pulling you back into the shadow of an alleyway and pressing a knife against your throat. 

You froze up completely at the sensation, hardly even registering the words being said to you by the man who reeked of tobacco and booze. The realization of what was happening made your heart race, the blood pumping loudly in your ears, as you repeatedly pleaded in your head, keeping as still as possible in hopes that he’d just let you go. _Please, Joker, please— please answer me!_ you beseeched, quickly losing faith in this plan of yours, but it was the only one that came to mind. 

_What’s happening—? Where are you?!_

You nearly cried in relief, hearing the startled and panicked voice of the man you’ve never seen yet feel so close to. He was close. _In the alley across from the beef bowl shop, please hurry, I—_

“So what, you’re just not gonna answer me?” You bit back a gasp as the dull edge of the knife dug a little deeper into your neck, the man clearly displeased with your lack of response. “Are you gonna agree, or am I gonna have to get nasty?” 

“I wouldn’t recommend that if I were you,” a cool, deep tone sent shivers down your spine. It was familiar, and yet you still couldn’t see who it was. You were too afraid to look with a knife pointed to your throat. “Try anything and I’ll shoot.” 

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing—?!” The grunt spat out, though with the way his tone wavered as a click behind his back rang loudly in his ears. 

“Go, and don’t you dare try this again.” 

“Nngh…” he withdrew his knife from your neck and shoved you aside, before rushing off to god-knows-where. 

You barely managed to catch yourself, body trembling slightly at the terrifying experience, before you finally looked to see who it was who saved you. “T-Thank you,” you managed to mutter. 

“What are you doing here? You know Shibuya isn’t safe for students right now,” the tall student who bore your same uniform stared down at you, concern etched all over his face. The voice clicked, hearing it in person: he was the same one who saved you just now, and the same one in your head. _I’m glad you’re safe._

“No way,” you mumbled, eyes wide, baffled. Akira Kurusu: Shujin’s transfer student with a criminal record, the one with more rumors than you could count surrounding him, _that_ was Joker? “You’ve got to be fucking kidding.” It was hard trying to keep up with everything, and hold on a moment— did he have a gun? 

“...You should go home,” Akira spoke after a moment. “We’ll talk later.” 

“Wait—” You gripped the sleeve of his uniform as he began to leave, “there’s so much I need to talk to you about, and… I don’t want to travel home alone after what happened.” 

Akira stared at you, his glasses shielding his eyes from the world, yet after a minute, he offered you a kind smile. “Are you sure you’d like to walk home with me, after threatening to shoot someone? You’ll be fine, trust me.” 

You couldn’t stop him from slipping through your fingers, walking away with his hands shoved in his pockets, not bothering to look back. You stared, stunned, as he became lost in the sea of people, leaving you behind with questions and a heavy heart, but the determination to find out just what was going on with him now that you had a name and a face to associate with the voice inside your head. 

But first, you had to make sure you went home safely. 


End file.
